The vocal group known as The Fidelitys (depite the odd
spelling) is another aggregation that has the tag of "one hit wonders"
about them despite a hard working history. Another thing that has given the
group a bit of peculiar fame is that they came from that hotbed of R & B
music, Albany, New York. The state's capitol city was where Emmit Smith, Robert
McCann, Maurice Newton, Arthur Mourning, and Earl Thorpe came together in the
mid nineteen fifties as The Mello-Tones. By the summer of 1957 the group had
changed their name to The Fidelitys and began the process to hone their skills
and perfect a sound unique to the group.

Soon the group had come in contact with Reuben Phillips
who led the house band at the Apollo Theater for many yearsand played so many times the Apollo Theater theme song
"I May Be Wrong (But I Think You're Wonderful"). After a few meetings
and perspective deals passed by, the group seemed to be set to get together
in a recording session for Baton Records in New York City. In the early days
of 1958 Baton # 252 was released which consisted of "The Things I Love"
and "Hold On To What'Cha Got". It began to move on the sales charts
early on thanks to a boost from Cleveland radio which helped the record to hit
status in the Midwest. In April as "The Things I Love" kept getting
bigger in sales and airplay, the group appeared on the big stage at the Apollo
Theater with radio dj Doctor Jive (Tommy Smalls). After that The Fidelitys made
all the requisite stops along the TOBA circuit such as The Uptown Theater in
Philadelphia, Royal in Baltimore, Howard in Washington D.C., and Regal in Chicago.

In June of the year Baton released # 256 with another
pop standard "Memories Of You" and "You Can't Come Out".
Through the summer Baton Records pushes for the newest Fidelitys release but
the popularity of their initial record does not translate to this effort. They
try to no avail to get the record a "push", and so in Septeber Baton
and the group try once more with "Captain Of My Ship" and "My
Greatest Thrill" on Baton # 261. For the Thanksgiving holiday week The
Fidelitys once again appear at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. That was also the
end of Baton Records for both the group and the record buying public.

In the summer of the following year the group hooked
up with a new label run by Sol Rabinowitz, former head man at Baton Records.
The new label was called SIR Records and recorded the group with a change in
spelling-now known as The Fidelities. In mid-August the new record by the group
was "Marie" and "The Invitation" on SIR # 271. "Marie,
the swing era hit for Tommy Dorsey had been given a jump version by The Four
Tunes for Jubilee Records a few years earlier, and this version was a reworking
with a dual lead. In November of 1959, the next release from SIR had the group
back as TheFidelitys with the songs "Walk
With The Wind" and "Only To You" on # 274. Once again the effort
by the group seemed to get lost in new releases and went nowhere.

The Fidelitys appeared one last time at the Apollo Theater
in early 1960. They had two more records released by SIR during the year with
Emmit Smith as lead singer. "This Girl Of Mine" and "Where In
The World" were released during the spring on # 276, and "Broken Love"
and "Wishing Star" was issued on # 277. The group hung around for
a short while after that before they called it quits. The Fidelitys came out
of Albany, New York, and gave us a memorable classic tune and a few other musical
moments. And for that we are grateful.